


It's The Thought That Counts

by chaostheory08



Series: Haikyuu After the Match [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Gift Giving, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 09:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13245798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheory08/pseuds/chaostheory08
Summary: Tsukishima gives his teammates gifts for Christmas.





	It's The Thought That Counts

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday season. Happy 2018! We made it!
> 
> (Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points.)
> 
> I know this is going up late but here's a little gift from me to you. I couldn't shake this idea off all weekend. I wrote this down in between assembling Gunpla on NYE. It's inspired by my weekly trips to Daiso - I just go to Little Tokyo a lot - and my experience with last minute stocking stuffers. And I really like writing Tsukki.
> 
> Also, I started watching an idol series. Can you guess what? Read on to find out! ;-)
> 
> One last thing... this fic doesn't follow any timelines. I know they have that Christmas special drama CD and I don't think Yachi was even part of the club yet (don't quote me). So please don't place this in against any timeline on the show or manga. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

“When are you going to go shopping for gifts, Kei?” Mrs. Tsukishima asked her youngest son. She just got home from her own grocery and Christmas shopping. “Akiteru said he’ll come home this weekend so maybe you guys can go together.”

“I only really need to buy for Yamaguchi,” the teen mumbled, his eyes not leaving the light novel he was reading. “He’s pretty easy to please.” He was planning to gift him green shoelaces and the latest Wake Up, Girls! Album. It was one of Sendai’s homegrown talents.

“But how about,” his mom’s voice was drowned out by the crinkling of the many plastic bags she was putting away.

“What was that, mom?”

She put away a large head of cabbage. “Your teammates, I said. Aren’t you guys having a Christmas party of some sort?” She knew that her son doesn’t have many friends but Kei had mentioned the Karasuno Boys Volleyball team from time to time. 

Kei shrugged. If he were totally honest, he did think about it. He liked them… enough. And they are the closest to “friends” he could ever have in high school. The people in his class either found him too weird or he found them too simple. “I’m not sure all of them celebrate, mom,” he said, closing his book and slumping deeper into the sofa. “Sawamura-san did mention something last week but I figured I can just bring food.”

His mom tapped him on the top of his head. “Don’t be like that, Kei,” she chuckled. After 16 years of dealing with her son’s moods, she was no longer affected. “Just give them something. Your dad sent you extra money so you can shop for gifts.” 

The teen shrugged again and his mom smiled broadly. He wasn’t vehemently resisting so he was just keeping up with his tsundere side. “I’ll think about it,” he said.

“Good enough for me,” his mom thought as she started making dinner.

 

*********************

 

“I was surprised when mom said you’re going shopping for gifts,” Akiteru said as he walked with Kei at the local mall. “I honestly thought Tadashi was your only friend.” That earned him a glare but like their mom, Akiteru was immune to that already. “Oh look! Yacchan would like that,” the older Tsukishima said pointing to a row of headbands and ribbons.

Kei blushed. He was so out of his comfort zone. It was bad enough that he had to look for gifts to give Dumbass Hinata and King Kageyama but there were girls in his list as well. Three to be exact… Shimizu-senpai, Yachi-san, and Tanaka-san’s sister, Saeko. However, Akiteru offered to buy the elder Tanaka a gift.

The younger Tsukishima awkwardly entered the accessories shop trying not to look around too much. It was an explosion of pinks and sparkly purples with all kinds of fluff and ribbons. They were the only guys in the store apart from the flamboyant looking cashier currently ringing out a small child and her purchase of a stuffed cat. 

Kei headed to the hair clips. There were several different shapes in several different colors. His hand hovered over the blue heart-shaped clip but decided against it. “I don’t want to send the wrong message,” he thought. And as if my telepathy, he shot his brother another glare.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Akiteru chuckled, his hands up. “Cute choice though.”

“Shut up,” Kei mumbled. He decided on a purple hair elastic with two baubles on both ends. “That’s one down. I wonder what Shimizu-senpai likes.” And he wasn’t going to ask Tanaka-san or Nishinoya-san about it. 

Akiteru tapped his younger brother on the shoulder. “I’ve seen some of my female friends use one of these,” he held up a headband that looked like it was made of towel material. A pair of cat ears were stitched on the he assumed goes on top of the head. “They said they use it to hold their hair up when they’re washing their faces. Do you think Saeko-san would like this?”

Kei snatched it from his brother’s hand. “I doubt it. Keep looking,” he said, making his way to the cashier. Akiteru smiled at his obviously uncomfortable brother. Then he picked up a dark green bandana and followed Kei to pay for his choice.

The brothers crammed the bright pink bags containing their purchased gifts deep inside another shopping back that they had. Kei had some gift ideas for his teammates. They mostly consisted of socks and shoelaces. “I can always buy a bunch of shoelaces in different colors and call it a day,” he said to himself as Akiteru dragged him from store to store.

They walked into a Daiso store. “Hey, it’s the thought that counts not the amount of money you spent. They’ll appreciate it knowing that you thought of them.” Kei rolled his eyes. “Come on, Kei,” Akiteru whined, “you know your teammates more than I do. What do you think Tobio would like?”

Kei paused briefly as if remembering that Tobio was in fact Kageyama’s given name. Again, he shrugged. “Milk and volleyball,” he said. Other than that, he didn’t really know anything else about their genius setter. Then he spotted a water bottle with a blue lid. It had no other designs on it but it looked sturdy. “I guess…” he said, picking up the item and putting it in his shopping basket.

“Great! Next!” Akiteru said, checking off Kageyama’s name from the list on his phone. “How about Hinata?”

“Should you start with those guys, really?” Kei complained. Akiteru held his ground. “Okay, fine.” He walked one aisle over and saw a black beanie with a white pompom. He wordlessly took one from the hook.

“That’s nice,” Akiteru said, striking out Hinata’s name. “The black will go well with his orange hair. Karasuno’s colors.” 

The elder Tsukishima put in some suggestions when Kei looked stuck. It was refreshing to see his usually stoic brother become awkward and unsure of himself. He was a good kid after all. 

The brothers decided to give the third years pencil bags, “Get those ones that have an elastic that attaches to the notebook,” Akiteru coached. Kei picked red for Sawamura, blue for Sugawara, and grey for Azumane. Kei did well on his own when it came to Tanaka’s gift, a maroon ball cap. The brothers agreed on a black and white thermal armband set for Nishinoya. For the other second years: Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita were getting portable phone chargers. 

The brothers exited the novelty store with full bags of random stuff. Akiteru pitched in some money because he also picked up stuff to give his co-workers as gag gifts. Kei already had something in mind for Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai. 

“What do you even give someone who owns a store?” Akiteru asked. “Maybe we should go back to that accessories shop and pick up one of those headbands for Ukai-senpai.”

“Shut up, big brother,” Kei said, sighing. He decided on a cigarette case for his coach. He hated the smell of tobacco but that was the best idea he had. Then he saved most of his extra money for a good quality fountain brush pen for their stalwart adviser. All he needed to buy was some wrapping materials.

They picked up dinner at a Thai food restaurant their mother liked and went home. Kei took his purchases to his room and realized he didn’t know the first thing about wrapping gifts. His mother always did it for them. He did have a roll of wrapping paper and tape but no boxes. “Boxes are easier to wrap than irregularly shaped items,” he thought. “How am I supposed to wrap the hats?”

He heard a knock on the door. “Kei, can you pick up some stuff for me tomorrow?” It was his mom. “Oh! How did your shopping trip go?”

“Well enough,” Kei replied, shrugging. “I hope they’re not expecting much.”

“Oh, hush,” Mrs. Tsukishima chuckled. “Do you need help wrapping those?” The gifts were neatly placed on the floor, yellow sticky notes on top of them to indicate who they were for. Shyly, Kei nodded. “Ah, something my brilliant son cannot do,” she said, patting his head affectionately. “Leave it to me!”

“Thank you, mom,” Kei said, sitting on the floor with her. He remembered when he was little, he would tear off pieces of tape from the dispenser to help out his mom. “I can do that again now,” he thought fondly.

 

*********************

 

For the team’s final practice of the year, Sawamura told them that they can bring food for potluck if they wanted. “Just a little celebration,” he said. Coach Ukai volunteered to bring the pork buns they liked so much. The second years pooled their money for refreshments. Yamaguchi asked money from his fellow first years so they can buy chips and other snacks, probably from Shimada Mart. The managers were to take care of the plates and other stuff.

As Coach Ukai confirmed the end of their practice, they started preparation for their small party. Kei slipped back into the club room to retrieve a paper bag filled with his gifts. He felt his cheeks warming up. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” he tsked. 

He almost bumped into Yachi on his way back to the gym. “Ah, there you are, Tsukishima-kun!” she chirped looking flustered. She was holding a similar-looking paper bag in her hands. “Here you go,” she said after fishing for something in the bag. It was a squishy keychain in the shape of a dinosaur. “This is from Shimizu-senpai and me. Yamaguchi said you like dinosaurs.”

Kei was speechless. He certainly didn’t expect anything. When Yachi started to look more uncomfortable, he managed to say, “Thank you very much. I’ll make sure to thank Shimizu-senpai also.” Yachi smiled and started to walk away. “Ah, wait!” The shorter girl paused and looked back. Kei handed her a small wrapped gift.

“Tsukishima-kun!” Yachi exclaimed, her cheeks tomato red. She took the package from his hand and tore into it. “So cute!” she cried out, clutching the hair baubles to her chest. “Thank you, Tsukishima-kun!”

“What’s that, Yachi-san?” Hinata inquired. He already had potato chip crumbs around his mouth. “Wah? From Tsukishima?” The orange-haired middle blocker turned to face him. “You! What have you done to our Tsukishima?” Kei tsked and threw a parcel to Hinata. The shorter boy’s eyes widened. “You do love me, Tsukishima!” Hinata made to approach Kei and attack him with a hug but Kei dodged him expertly.

“You don’t even know what it is yet,” Kei said. “It could be a muzzle to keep you from talking.”

“My, my…” Tanaka heard the exchange. “I didn’t know you were into that,  _ Tsukki _ .”

Kei didn’t even bother correcting him. Instead, he handed Tanaka his gift. “I hope you like it, Tanaka-san.” 

Dumbfounded, Tanaka tore at the wrapping paper and cried out his gratitude. He placed the ball cap on his shaved head backwards. “You’re not so bad after all, Tsukishima! Thank you!” His cheers were joined by Hinata who was already wearing his beanie.

By that time, the whole gym’s attention was on them. Kei had no choice but it distribute his gifts. Nishinoya tackled him from behind when he opened his gift. Kageyama paled when he realized he was also getting something. Mumbling his thanks, he disappeared for a moment then came back with a cup of juice for Tsukishima. The third years from silently laughing at the scene. Yamaguchi went red the instant he saw the Wake Up, Girls! CD. He never shared that obsession of his to anyone except Tsukki. But he was calmed down by Kinoshita who apparently shared the same interest. The second-year even promised to go with him to their next local live event.

The second and third years appreciated their presents. Asahi even got embarrassed because he didn’t have anything to give back. Kei had to reassure him that it was okay. They all held their breath as Shimizu opened hers. When she saw what was inside the bag, she chuckled. Tanaka and Nishinoya promptly lost the strength in their legs. 

“I’ve always wanted one of these,” Shimizu said. “Thanks, Tsukishima.” Yamaguchi gave him a thumbs up.

Kei later gave Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei their presents. Takeda-sensei held the pen so carefully as if afraid to drop it. Ukai patted him on the back, already transferring his smokes from the flimsy paper box they came in.

If Kei were to be totally honest, their little party was a lot of fun. The girls volleyball team stopped by after their own practice. It was funny seeing how flustered Michimiya got as she handed Sawamura her neatly wrapped present. The vice principal visited them to drop off free juice boxes. 

At the end of the day, Kei walked away with a squishy dinosaur keychain from their managers, 3 pieces of homemade green tea mochi from Hinata (Hinata’s mother, actually), an angela CD from Yamaguchi, a pair of gloves from Sugawara, and an inspiring bookmark from Takeda-sensei.

“So how did they like the gifts, Kei?” Akiteru asked. They were having dinner with their mom, a piece of mochi on a small saucer beside their miso soup bowls. 

“They liked it,” Kei replied. “Though I think they were more surprised that I had something for them at the first place.” 

“And they’re so nice to have something for you too,” their mom said. “You must ask Hinata-san if she sells these wonderful mochi!” 

It was a strange, foreign feeling… Kei was genuinely happy. Normally, he would be happy but annoyed at the same time. Most of the time, he was indifferent. He signed up for the volleyball club because he needed an afterschool activity and he was a decent enough player (and Yamaguchi really wanted to join). But he was really having fun with this ragtag group of boys.

Tomorrow, he would go to school listening to his new angela CD, wearing his new pair of gloves, with a dinosaur keychain hanging from his pencil bag. He would probably start reading a new light novel so he could use his bookmark. 

Yeah, good idea.

* * *

 

I really like Saeko and Akiteru together. ;-)


End file.
